Centre of Excellence for Inclusive Industrial Training Institute in Rajkot to be launched

The Department for International Development (DFID), Government of United Kingdom and the Directorate of Employment and Training (DET), Gujarat government, have joined hands to set up a Centre of Excellence for Inclusive ITI in Rajkot.

The Skills for Jobs (SFJ) programme launched by the Department of International Development (DFID), Government of United Kingdom along with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India aims to create sustainable and inclusive skill development training across all vulnerable and marginalised sections of India.

To integrate the special learning needs of people with disabilities, DFID has partnered with the Directorate of Employment & Training (DET), government of Gujarat, to develop Industrial Training Institute (ITI), Rajkot as a Centre of Excellence. This will impart skills training programmes to people with disabilities that are demand driven. DFID will support the accessibility audit of the infrastructure, training of trainers, development of inclusive course and curricula together with facilitating connect with the local employers as part of the Technical Assistance Programme.

About 1.81% of Gujarat’s population is recognised as disabled, with 30% of them employed. This makes it urgent that their employability be enhanced. ITIs have been in the fore front of driving the skill agenda and are playing a key role in empowering marginalised Indian youth.

As part of the engagement, ITI Rajkot would be made fully accessible to youth with any listed disability. The emphasis will be on local trainee base and leveraging on the connect with locally based employers and industries.

We have a passion for vocational education. We need to develop similar passion for inclusion of people with disabilities in vocational education and their employability. The Centre of Excellence in Rajkot is being developed to provide best-in-class training facilities to train PWDs and connect them with industry. The final goal being to replicate best practices across all ITIs so that all ITIs are inclusive. – Supreet Singh Gulati, Director, Employment and Training, Government of Gujarat

A workshop for orientation and sensitisation of stakeholders working in the disability space was organised last week. The workshop was curated by the National Star College, a United Kingdom-based agency specializing in the design, research, and delivery of innovative solutions to support disabled people in independent living and earning. The session covered the importance and usage of assistive technologies, best practices and awareness building activities for various trainers and principals of ITIs.

Impact enterprise v-shesh is the local partner for the facilitation of the programme.